"Balk Restaurant at Bolton on the Park Motel nails its colours to the mast by celebrating the truth that wonderful things come in small packages.
Its premises is a small space distinguished by exposed brick walls, its seating capacity perhaps around the 50 mark; its menu turns its back on pages of options in favour of a handful of entrees, mains and desserts; and its portion sizes, while not miniscule a la nouvelle cuisine, pay tribute to customers seeking quality rather than mere quantity.
My wife, daughter and I went to Balk on April 12 to celebrate my birthday, a wonderful decision as it turned out. We decided to go straight to the mains, ordering three dishes, namely duck breast, salmon and gnocchi. The (small but selective) wine list included one of my stellar favourites, West End (Griffith) 2014 Durif, procured for from a floor mounted wine rack by an attentive male waitperson. A tip for patrons: avoid sitting at the table to the right of the street entrance, since the wine rack is directly behind this table.
House made sourdough bread preceded the arrival of our mains. For the first time in dining memory, all three dishes were equally magical. Perhaps my pair of duck breasts were a trifle thickly cut, but the flavour and texture bespoke culinary skill of high order. My wife's salmon was cooked to perfection, moist and flavoursome, and my daughter's gnocchi was to die for. Having experienced gnocchi in Switzerland and France, this Balk version was in the same league.
The female waitperson enticed us to try strawberries and cream. Predictable? Not a bit of it! The dish was based on sour cream and comprised a marriage of fresh and frozen berries, completely avoiding the more usual drenching sweetness and allowing the fruit to sing its flavours. Again, the portion amount was satisfyingly small.
The arrival of Balk on Wagga's restaurant scene is timely. Many of our eateries fall into the trap of offering extensive choices and loading down one's plate with masses of food on the mistaken assumption everyone wants to stagger away like bloated fish. In effect, Balk is proclaiming excellence of chef-prepared food that respects both palate and digestion.
Amen to that! We'll be back!"
Adrian W